Senate leader says government won’t shut down over Planned Parenthood

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/sep/16/senate-leader-government-shutdown-planned-parenthood

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Congress is potentially days away from a government shutdown tied to a confrontation over a women’s health organization, but Senate leader Mitch McConnell said on Wednesday lawmakers would pass legislation in time to avert any agency closures.

“We’re going to fund the government,” McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, said. “We’re not going to shut the government down.”

Congress must strike a deal on the spending bill before the end of the fiscal year on 30 September.

A group of conservatives, outraged by a series of undercover videos that show Planned Parenthood employees appearing to discuss the sale of fetal tissue donations, has vowed to reject a spending bill that includes funding for the organization. Barack Obama has said he would veto a spending bill that cuts the organization’s funding.

Speaking at a meeting of the Business Roundtable in Washington, Obama warned Republicans against “playing chicken with an $18tn economy” by threatening a shutdown, especially in “skittish” stock market conditions.

But the president also called on lawmakers to do more than simply postpone wider budget decisions.

“My hope is that Congress aims a little higher than just not shutting the government down,” he said.

But on Wednesday, McConnell said that he intended to do just that. The Senate leader said he is seeking a bill that would keep the government funded through “late fall”, giving lawmakers more time to negotiate a longer-term spending bill. He blamed Democrats for hindering debate on a spending bill.

Turning to the issue of Planned Parenthood, McConnell issued his strongest rebuke yet of a plan by a core group of conservatives to defund the organization at any cost.

“If you shut down the government, you will not defund Planned Parenthood. It will not happen,” McConnell said. He noted that the Senate already voted on a bill to defund Planned Parenthood in August, and it had failed.

“I’m not in favor of exercises in futility. We need a deal with the world that we have ... The cold hard reality for those of us who don’t support Planned Parenthood is that we need a president who has a similar view and would sign such a bill,” he said.

In effort to defuse the brewing showdown of Planned Parenthood’s funding, the Senate’s Republican leaders have fast-tracked a house bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks. The Senate will vote to end debate on the bill on Thursday.

In the House, speaker John Boehner is facing a revolt by the conservative flank of his party who want to see the organization defunded without exception. More than 30 House Republicans have signed a pledge vowing not to vote for any spending measure that contains funding for Planned Parenthood.

In an attempt to pacify them, the house is expected to vote this week on two abortion-related bills. One would deny funding to any Planned Parenthood affiliate that provides abortion services and the other would order criminal penalties for healthcare providers who fail to provide medical care to a baby that survives an abortion attempt.

Following the release of the latest Planned Parenthood video on Tuesday, prominent anti-abortion activists ratcheted up the pressure on lawmakers.

But Democrats are fighting back, condemning attempts by House Republicans to cut funds for Planned Parenthood services. On Wednesday, three Democratic representatives held a press conference on the impact cutting its funding would have on women.

“It’s past time that Republicans stop governing by crisis,” said Representative Barbara Lee, a democrat from California. “The American people deserve a government that works for them, not a government held hostage by an ideological war on women.”